


Red Riding Keith

by may10baby



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Crossdressing, Fluff and Humor, Inspired by Art, Keith is Red, M/M, Red Riding Hood Elements, Shiro is the Wolf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 09:57:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12078753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/may10baby/pseuds/may10baby
Summary: “What are you doing?” He asked. Keith looked at him like he was an idiot.“Putting on your collar of course.” He said, as if it was obvious. The wolf stared at him.“...What?”“Your collar. You’re cute, and now you’re my new pet.” Keith told him, moving to put the collar around his neck again. The wolf gripped his wrists tightly.“You can’t just…! I’m not a dog!”





	Red Riding Keith

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little drabble inspired by foxkunkun.tumblr.com's Red Riding Keith pic; http://foxkunkun.tumblr.com/post/164972872721/little-red-riding-hood-keith-and-the-big-but-not
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this :3

“Keith!” Colleen called out cheerfully, stepping out into the Holt’s backyard. Keith glanced up from where he was kneeling on the ground, cutting away at the rusted old wire of the farm’s chicken pen. “Would you mind running some snacks to Lance’s house? Matt and Katie are sleeping over and I thought I’d send them some treats.” She said, holding up a large wicker basket. Inside Keith could see the beginnings of a green quilt she’d sewn earlier in the year, no doubt hiding a sizable amount of baked goods.  

Keith stood up, stretching out the kinks in his back as he turned to face her. “Sure, Mrs. Holt.” He said easily, dusting off his pants and making his way towards the house. It was a large farmhouse, meant to house more than just the Holt family and Keith, but Colleen had firmly decided against having more children after her ‘sweet older son’ and ‘hellion of a daughter’. The Holt farmland consisted of a few decent sized crop fields, a coop full of chickens, a barn full of cows, some goats and one lonely horse. Also one local fox that kept stealing said chickens. Samuel Holt, Pidge’s father, had tasked Keith with relining the chicken coop’s wire in the hopes that the fox wouldn’t be able to dig its way through again.

Keith had spent most of his life in the care of Pidge’s family. Samuel had found him one day out in the woods and had taken him home instead of leaving him out for the wolves. The Holts gave him a roof over his head and in exchange he helped out with the farmwork. Even if he wasn’t indebted to them, Keith probably would have ending up doing what they wanted. Samuel Holt was just plain nice, and his wife could be terrifying when she wanted to be.

Case in point, when Keith walked up to stand in front of her, Colleen looked him over once with an angry gasp.

“Keith! You’re covered in dirt and mud!” She shook her head in dismay. Keith glanced down at his clothes. His black shirt and jeans were covered in dirt and otherwise from working on the chicken coop and cleaning out the animal stalls earlier. His red boots were also covered in mud. All in all, it was standard day out on the farm.

“...Yes?” Keith said lowly, confused. Colleen sent him an exasperated look.

“Go and get cleaned and changed before you run off in public!”

“My laundry is still drying on the clothesline though.” Keith reasoned, glancing down at his grimy clothes with a shrug. “I’m sure Lance’s family won’t mind. They know I help out here.” He added, holding out his hand for the basket. He could smell the chocolate chip cookies already. Maybe he’d sneak one on the walk over.

“If I was having you run them over a live chicken maybe it’d be fine, but you’re delivering cookies, not livestock. Go ahead and borrow some of Matt’s clothes.” Colleen suggested, pulling the basket away, setting it on her hip with a sigh.

“Matt’s clothes are out on the line with mine, along with your husband’s.” Keith added, pointing out to where he’d hung the clothes earlier at Colleen’s request. Colleen shook her head.

“Then borrow one of Katie’s outfits. Anything that’s _clean!_ ” Colleen answered. Keith stared at her.

“You have got to be kidding me.” He said. Colleen looked him dead in the eye.

She was, in fact, not kidding.

An hour later Keith was washed up and wearing a _skirt_ of all things. The blouse was okay, it was white and crossed with lace strings that normally were tightened to accent the figure (read: breasts), but it wasn’t too tight when Keith tugged the strings free. The skirt was a bright red, and managed to just brush past his calves. Pidge barely came up to his shoulders, so the fact that their skirt didn’t reach his ankles was no surprise. All in all he looked like some pervert crossdressing in women’s clothes.

Keith had expected for Colleen to take one look at him and suggest he change into her son’s damp clothes from the clothesline, but she had _cooed_ over his outfit instead. In fact, she rushed away for a moment to grab a matching red hooded cape complete with an overly large bow.

“Red never suited Katie as well as green! You can keep the outfit, it suits your perfectly!” Colleen added, placing a large basket in Keith’s hands.

“Mrs. Holt…” Keith began as Colleen ushered him out the door, “I can’t go to Lance’s house in a dress! I’d never hear the end of it! I would be on my deathbed in my _eighties_ and Lance would _still_ be making fun of me.”

“Keep arguing with me, sweetheart, and you won’t make it past thirty.” Colleen replied cheerfully, all smiles as she adjusted a very pale Keith’s hood. “Now run along, dear. It’ll get dark out soon, so hurry!” She added, watching as Keith backed up steadily towards the woods. “Do you have your knife on you? In case you run into any wolves?” She asked as he reached the tree line. Keith pressed a hand on the sheath tucked away in the basket, nodding at her and quickly turning away to disappear into the woods.

Keith gave himself a little while to calm down, reminded of the fact that Pidge had to get that scary anger from _someone_ and it clearly hadn’t been her dad. Now that Colleen wasn’t around, Keith focused on where he was going and how he was going to get there. The path was hard to see in this area since few people traveled this way. In fact only Keith and the local kids ever walked around here, but always during the day and never alone. It was due to the wolves being a common problem, even though Keith had never come across them personally. And by this point he might not have minded being hunted down and murdered by a pack of wolves, anything to spare Lance’s ridicule once he showed up at the McClain home in a skirt. Keith sighed, wondering if he could manage to knock on Lance’s door, ditch the basket, and sprint back into the woods before anyone saw him. Yeah, that was a decent plan. He’d do that. Keith lifted his head, new idea in mind as he looked forward-

-into the darkness of the woods.

In hindsight, he probably should have asked Colleen for a lantern.

Keith turned around, intending to go back to the farm. Better to take the time to run back to the farm as opposed to getting lost in the woods in the middle of the night. Keith walked back along the path for a while, until he realized that the farm had yet to reappear. Had he actually gotten lost, both in his thoughts and literally?

Keith stopped to look around, searching for any familiar landmarks. He frowned, not noticing any, before casting his gaze to the trees thoughtfully. He couldn’t see through the thick, leafy canopy from here, but he could just climb up a tree and look around for something familiar. It seemed like a solid idea. There wasn’t exactly a lack of trees in the area.

He set his basket at the base of a particularly tall tree, gathering his skirt and yanking it up above his knees to tie at a knot around his thighs. He then kicked off his boots before leaping up to grab the nearest branch. Keith had been a textbook wild child growing up, spending more time in the dirt and trees than reading like either of the Holt siblings. It was no wonder he didn’t make it long in school before getting kicked out.

He pushed himself up onto the first branch, climbing to his feet and reaching for the next. It wasn’t long until the branches he was standing on grew thin enough that they creaked in warning as he stepped on them. Keith pushed away a clump of leaves, looking out over the treeline to see if he could spot anything.

A little ways away he could make out the chimney smoke of Lance’s home, and further in the distance the he could see the large clearing that marked the Holt Farm. Well, if he was already this close, then he might as well go to Lance’s and Ding Dong Ditch the food. Afterwards he’d just run back into the trees and find someway to get home in the middle of the night. What could go wrong?

Keith began his climb down, making it about halfway before he froze. At the base of his tree he could see the basket of food, still covered by Colleen’s green quilt. Keith also saw a man by the basket, but Keith quickly noticed the curious ears on the man’s -no, _wolf’s_ \- head.

The wolf had knelt down to paw at the basket curiously, obviously having been lured by the smell of baked goods inside. Keith watched for a moment, but the wolf didn’t look up at the tree, meaning that he had the element of surprise. The only downside was that his knife was still in the basket. Though, if he angled it right, he might be able to…

Without a second thought Keith dropped from the branch he was on, his bare feet aimed directly at the wolf’s head. But at the last moment the wolf’s ears twitched, and his head jerked up as he fell back onto his ass in surprise. Keith missed the kick to the head, landing on the wolf’s thighs with a yell. Without a pause, Keith reached out to yank the knife out of the basket, pulling it free of its sheath in one tug.

“M-M-Miss! Wait, please!” The wolf called out, hands lifted gently in surrender. And, oh boy, if Keith wasn’t going to stab him beforehand, he sure as _hell_ was going to now. He swung at the wolf with the knife, hissing when the canine ducked his swing. The wolf’s hand darted out to wrap around Keith’s wrist, but Keith merely flicked the knife to his other hand, catching it easily. He shoved the knife under the wolf’s chin, glaring at angrily at him. The wolf looked back at him with wide, grey eyes.

“Miss, _listen_ , I don’t mean any harm! I-”

“Sir.” Keith corrected sharply. The wolf paused, looking directly into Keith’s face and blinking.

“Sir...?” He repeated. Keith nodded his head. “I...uh, pardon?” The wolf glanced down at Keith’s outfit in obvious confusion.

“Don’t even ask.” Keith said quickly, poking the wolf in the chin with the very tip of his blade, not hard enough to break skin. “Besides, I don’t have to answer questions from a basket thief! Now prepare to meet your end!”

“Wait!” The wolf snagged onto Keith’s wrist, leaning away sharply. “I wasn’t going to steal anything! I followed the smell of cookies, but I could smell the scent of a human as well! I didn’t see you though, so I grew worried. It’s dangerous here at night.” The wolf explained. Keith paused, before lowering the knife and looking the wolf over.

He was dressed in a grey button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal how his human arms from the elbows down were covered in black fur, his fingers ending in sharp claws. He was wearing black pants as well, along with matching boots. A fluffy, grey tail was raised in alarm behind him. On the sides of his head a pair of grey ears sat, with a tuft of black and white hair in between them. Most interesting of all was the scar that was directly across the wolf’s nose, it made his grey eyes seem larger. The wolf squirmed underneath him after a moment, as if noticing how Keith was straddling him casually. He certainly didn’t come off as a wild animal, if anything this wolf was practically tame.

Keith blinked at that thought. A tame wolf? Right here? He snapped his fingers, and the wolf twitched to attention. Keith smirked at that, taking his knife and cutting off the bottom part of his cape. The wolf watched him in confusion, at least until Keith took the long scrap of fabric and tried to tie it around his neck. The wolf jerked back, snagging Keith’s hands with his own.

“What are you doing?” He asked. Keith looked at him like he was an idiot.

“Putting on your collar of course.” He said, as if it was obvious. The wolf stared at him.

“...What?”

“Your collar. You’re cute, and now you’re my new pet.” Keith told him, moving to put the collar around his neck again. The wolf gripped his wrists tightly.

“You can’t just…! I’m not a _dog!_ ” He said nervously, clearly unnerved by the glint in Keith’s eye.

“No, you’re not. I _hate_ dogs. You’re a wolf though. I’m going to name you...Red.” Keith added. The wolf shook his head, looking completely exasperated.

“What makes you think I _want_ to be your pet? Also why would you name me _Red?_ ” He asked, frowning when Keith tried to put the collar on once again. He pushed his hands away, growling softly in warning.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if you want to be my pet, you owe me your life now.” Keith replied, nodding his head sagely. “Also red is my favorite color.” He added easily. The wolf stared at him.

“Just because you didn’t stab me doesn’t mean I owe you my life!”

“Colleen made chocolate pastries, if you’d eaten them you would have been poisoned.” Keith pointed out.

“I wasn’t going to eat them!” The wolf yelled indignantly, before groaning in frustration. “Listen, Miss, er-Sir,”

“Keith”

“Keith,” the wolf corrected, “I think there’s been some sort of misunderstanding. I came here out of the deeper parts of the woods to make sure you were alright, not to eat your pastries. Wolves don’t eat pastries, we hunt for meat.”

“Well, if you come home and help out with the chores, I’m sure Colleen would love to feed you dinner.” Keith said, watching the way the wolf’s ears twitched in interest. “The Holt’s are nice like that. They took me in when my family abandoned me to the woods.” Keith supplied matter-of-factly, turning his attention to adjusting his skirt from where it was bunched up around his waist. He missed the way the wolf’s eyes softened with sympathy.

“Well, if they wouldn’t mind…” The wolf said cautiously, his ears tilting back as Keith wrapped the scrap of red fabric around his neck snugly. Keith tightened the collar with a sturdy know, keeping it loose enough that the wolf could breathe. Keith climbed to his feet, not bothering to put his boots back on. He liked the way the moss felt between his toes. He bent down to pick up the basket and boots with one hand, before turning to face the wolf.

“Come along, Red.” Keith said, tugging at the end of red rope. The wolf stood as well, and Keith had to tilt his head back to maintain eye contact. Were all wolves this big?  

“I have a name already,” the wolf said amiably, “it’s Takashi Shirogane.”

Keith stared at him for a long moment. The wolf began to sweat.

“Shiro, then.” Keith finally said, nodding and continuing towards Lance’s house. The wolf fell into step next to him, heaving a small, defeated sigh.

“Shiro works, I suppose.” He agreed, glancing over with a small smile when Keith began to hum.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm considering continuing, but I like the light element of this story. It was brief and fun and Shiro is doomed, lol.
> 
> Leave a comment, I love them!


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